Of course, the Arabs taking the responsibility for the violence aren’t the ones actually causing it, well, except for the ones funding the Sunni or Shia terrorists in Iraq, but still: Holy crap!

The Iraqi government is responsible for defusing the sectarian violence tearing the country apart and should redraft the constitution and rescind laws that give preferential treatment to Shiites and Kurds, Arab foreign ministers said in a statement Sunday.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also hinted that Arab governments may take their recommendations on stemming the violence in Iraq to the U.N. Security Council if the government’s efforts to end the crisis fail.

Sunday’s statement was the strongest sign yet from the mostly Sunni Muslim Arab governments in the Middle East that they blame the Iraqi government for the country’s sectarian strife.

Shyeah, that’ll stop them. “Stop this bombing of civilians right now, or we’ll sic the UN on you!” Because that’s been so effective in Darfur. And, well, everywhere else. (The Exception Clause, as always, goes when Israel is concerned.)

Mind you, this all sounds very good, and once again, the utter hypocrisy of the League of Dictators, Theocracies, and Monarchies doesn’t seem to affect anyone’s digestion. A quick glance at the Wikipedia site yields this nifty fact:

The Arab League differs notably from some other regional organizations such as the European Union, in that it has not achieved any significant degree of regional integration and the organization itself has no direct relations with the citizens of its member states.

All Arab League members are also members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

Yup. All of ‘em are Islamic states.

Among the recommendations are expanding the political process to achieve broader participation of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, confronting sectarian tensions and working to eliminate them, speeding up constitutional reform, and ensuring the equal distribution of wealth.

The ministers also called for revoking an Iraqi law that dismissed senior members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party from the government and urged the government to pass a law that specifically says Iraqis should be treated equally based on their citizenship, not their religion or ethnicity.

In addition, they called on the Iraqi government to disband Shiite militias, end armed demonstrations and decide on a specific timeframe for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

They’re threatening to go to the Security Council over that, too. Shyeah. That’ll happen. When the U.S. loses its veto.

Overall, it’s just words, and I notice that the Arabs have a ton to say about conditions in Iraq and Israel (we’ll hear about that tomorrow, I’m sure), but never anything to say about the lack of democracy in their own lands.

Funny, that.

Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi of the many-spellings last name says he won’t attend the Arab summit meeting because it’s a waste of time.

Libya won’t attend the upcoming Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, the Libyan foreign minister said Sunday, adding that the Arab world “is not serious” and that “joint Arab action is dysfunctional.”

“Arab joint action is marred by disorder,” Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam said at Arab League headquarters in Cairo Sunday.

“Libya is insisting on a real Arab mechanism - not policies of axes, groups and unilateral changes to decisions,” an angry Shalqam said.

Okay, the guy is totally nuts, and just tried to execute foreign nurses and doctors for [insert eye roll] giving AIDS to Libyans (instead of owning up to how the HIV got there in the first place)—but he’s right about the Arab summit, and hey, it’s fun to laugh at these idiots fighting among themselves. It’s especially worthwhile on Purim.

In fact, the inability of the Arab and Muslim states to forge any kind of permanent peace has always been one of Israel’s greatest advantages. May it stay that way forever.

Yemen has charged 35 suspects with taking part in foiled suicide attacks on oil facilities last year. But why bother even going through the charaged of charging them? They’re only going to be set free when nobody’s looking.

A hundred jailed Muslim extremists, including some who allegedly fought for al-Qaida in Iraq, were released by authorities, a Yemeni security official said.

The official, speaking Saturday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that some of the released completed serving their sentences, while some of the others were acquitted for lack of evidence.

[...]The official added that 19 of the released fought under the command of al-Qaida in Iraq’s previous leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, prior to his death in a U.S. airstrike last June. Some of the 19 had been convicted of plotting terrorist attacks after they were handed over to Yemen by Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Among the released were four Saudis and also members of a Yemeni extremist group the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that had kidnapped four tourists three Britons and an Australian, in 1998. The tourists were killed in a botched rescue attempt by Yemeni security forces.

An interior ministry official, who said that the released members of Aden-Abyan Islamic Army were given $1,000 to help them restart life outside bars.

By the way, the “botched rescue attempt” was a rescue attempt by security forces that resulted in four of the tourists being killed. I can’t really find much detailed information about the trials afterward, but apparently, being involved in a kidnapping that resulted in the deaths of four hostages only earns you about ten years in jail in Yemen. Plus, you get money to help you start your life again once you get out. Now there’s punishment for you. But hey, they were only infidels, right?